Photo via PopTower.com

CBS comedy “2 Broke Girls,” has been called one of the hits this season, but recently, the show has come under fire for its stereotypes—especially the portrayal of Korean immigrant Han Lee (Matthew Moy), who speaks in broken English and owns a diner. Apparently, even before the pilot aired there were signs that Han was going to be a horrible character and treated as such.

TV critics have caught on and at the CBS portion of the Television Critics Association tour on Wednesday, executive producer Michael Patrick King got blasted about Han, when the event should have been about the positive aspects of the show. King was not happy and got defensive in his responses to critics’ questions.

All I have to say is that I applaud the critics for taking a stand and fighting for equal opportunity on the small screen. What’s strange is that just this past Monday, a casting call has been put out for a “hot Asian male” for the show.

Hmmm…now why would the casting director do that?

In a recent Marie Claire article, beauty director Ying Chu poses the provocative question, ”why are the West’s most powerful men coupling up with younger Asian women?”

Chu cites many Hollywood couples as examples, such as Nicolas Cage and Alice Kim, Zhang Ziyi and venture capitalist Vivi Nevo; and most famously, Woody Allen and his once-adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. And while these couplings aren’t exactly breaking news (nor is the concept of “yellow fever” for that matter), the article investigates the concept of an Asian trophy wife — are these older men dating younger Asian women as an exotic status symbol?

“After two or three failed attempts at domestic bliss with women of like background and age, these heavy hitters sought out something different. Something they had likely fetishized,” says Chu.

Furthermore, Chu goes onto to speculate why the women go along with it regardless:

“Maybe these outsized, world-class moguls are stand-ins for emotionally repressed Asian dads (one cliché that is predominantly true). Or… are these women just glorified opportunists?”

Chu points out that many of these Asian trophy wives are highly educated and successful, which goes against the idea of a traditional trophy wife who is much less educated than her husband.

As you probably can tell, this article has incited some pretty strong comments both in the blogosphere and in the articles comments section. There are some out there who don’t take too kindly to Ying Chu’s generalizations. Read TheFrisky.com’s rebuttal to Chu’s piece here. The popular relationships site argues that this article needlessly marginalizes the interracial relationships that ARE genuine:

“Not all interracial relationships between whites and Asians deserve to have doubt cast upon them,” says Frisky writer Jessica Wakeman. “Lots of men simply think Asian women are beautiful — just like lots of men simply think blondes are beautiful —which doesn’t necessarily qualify as a fetish.”

I tend to agree with Wakeman. Sure,  there are a handful of men who fetishize Asian women according to the most stereotypical terms, but isn’t there a difference between dating an Asian because she’s submissive/hypersexual/whatever and merely finding them more attractive?

For more commentary on this article, check out Disgrasian, 8Asians, Jezebel, doubleX, Korean Beacon, and You Offend Me You Offend My Family.

Here are some of the many negative reader comments from this article on Marie Claire’s website so far:

“This article does nothing but drum up the same awkwardness that Spike Lee and other closed minded people in the media have used to make Asians, Blacks Whites and Latinos feel ashamed for “dating outside of their race.” — katty852

“This is embarrassing, both for the writer and the editors. As a piece of written work, this would be laughed out of a freshman gender studies class. As an Asian-American female, I read the comments regarding “emotionally unavailable fathers” and “always respecting our elders” with disgust. Really? All of us fit into this box? I used to be a huge fan of Marie Claire, but the level of this article makes it clear why the magazine has lost its draw.” — saracee1

“As an Asian American woman in my late thirties, I was disturbed at how immature and insecure Chu’s writing was an extension of her own self image. Is she speaking about herself, asking if she could not understand why a white man would want to date her? ” — missmodern

“Who are you to judge whether or not people are in love or not just because two people are of different ethnicity?” — mp314

“Although I too have rolled my eyes at some of the aforementioned pairings of late, this piece really does a disservice by recycling hackneyed stereotypes without offering any real analysis, insight or even basic facts. It reads like the rant of someone taking a freshman course on race, gender and identity politics.” — d7253

What do you think readers? Is Chu hitting on an uncomfortable trend or she hitting a career-low with this article?

Photo via Marie Claire

“Just because I’m not the white guy doesn’t mean I’m not the right guy”

A few weeks ago, I tweeted about the trend of Asian American couples resorting to in vitro fertilizations and abortions in order to have a son rather a daughter. My accompanying comment: “Where is the love for Asian girls?”

Soon afterward, I gained a new follower named whiteyonrice, (presumably because said follower searched ‘Asian girls’). As someone who happens to date a Caucasian, I was intrigued by the username and I checked out his site.

And that is how I happened upon WhiteyonRice.com, a new blog devoted to making fun of white male/Asian female couplings. The site pairs photos of these interracial couples with a snarky, derisive captions. The whole “white guys stealing our women” issue has been brought up many a time in various mediums: Videos have been made, songs written, but a full-fledged blog “covering traitorous Asian  American women?” That is a first. And frankly, I’m not sure whether to think the concept is pitiful, racist or flat-out genius and funny.

I recently caught up with the man behind the site, 25-year-old Johnny Chang* for an illuminating Q&A. A self-described “young urban professional,” the Korean American said he created the site after getting rejected too many times on the basis of race. Oh — and he’s still single, ready to mingle and wants to know if there are “any cute girls who don’t only date white dudes.”

How did you come up with this blog?

Basically, I don’t consider myself a militant Asian man, but I was getting tired of getting kicked to the curb by both women and the media because I’m an Asian man. I was tired of Asian girls simply telling me, “Sorry, I’m just not into Asian guys,” as if that were a valid position to take. I think there are a lot of reasons why Asian women prefer to date white dudes, but it’s not for any of the reasons they like to tell themselves.

I’m particularly sick and tired of hearing Asian women say that Asian men aren’t “masculine” enough or “just aren’t attractive.” I mean, come on, how freaking ignorant do you have to be to just cross out an entire race like that, particularly your own? So in sum, I wanted to make this blog so I could display some of the absurdities of the white man/Asian woman coupling and try to get people to think twice about these prevailing stereotypes.

Do you really think the Asian girl/white guy pairing is an actual calamity or do you think it’s just funny to make fun of the stereotype?

Both! It’s a huge calamity. It’s white man’s sexual warfare on my Asian maleness. And the results are usually gross, so it’s great to make fun of it too.

Why do you think the pairing is so prevalent?

If this seems harsh—don’t shoot the messenger. In a nutshell, the female Asian psyche is under siege by a variety of forces. She lives as a minority in a society and is subjected to cultural and social stereotypes.

First, just as an Asian: Asians are good at math, Asians are good at science, Asians are quiet—blah blah blah. Second, as an Asian woman: Asian women are either hot submissive playthings or hot kinky, bad-ass dominatrices (think Lucy Liu in Payback). Then when you combine your garden variety angst over being a minority with a white-dominated media, the result is a cultural belief that Asian men are namby pambies and should only be sought out during tax time.

Bottom line: The pairing is so prevalent because these girls have been CONDITIONED by society to like white men. And there will always be ugly white dudes who can’t get good-looking white women and think they won something by dating a somewhat-not-ugly Asian chick. Supply and demand, my friend.

How would you respond to someone who says this is just reverse racism?

I would tell them to get off my back. I mean, white dudes won. You have the better jobs, the education, the power and it’s always been that way. Always. It’s stupid to think the effects of this don’t trickle down to something as simple as “whitey on rice.” And if you think I’m being racist, then why don’t you try to think about some of the things I’m addressing rather than just blame me. I mean, come on, reverse racism? That is so like whitey to bitch and moan when the people he oppresses begin to whine about the oppression.

Who is your target audience – bitter Asian guys?

Well, yes. I think they connect the most with the material because, after all, I AM a bitter Asian guy. But really, I’d like everyone to see it, have a laugh and a think.

What has the response been to your site?

I’ve gotten some angry Asian women comments, saying that they “just happen” to date white dudes. I’ve also gotten a lot of support from Asian people (both men and women) who are just as frustrated as I am.

Where do you get the photos from?

I have a variety of sources, ranging from reader submissions, photos I take myself, celeb blogs, etc.

Can people submit photos?

For sure. Do you have any? If so, please send them to submit@whiteyonrice.com.

What do you hope to accomplish with your blog, if anything?

I’d like to get a date. That’d be nice. Anybody out there?

So what’s your take, girls? Does Johnny have a point there or not so much?

*The blogger prefers to go by a pseudonym, Johnny Chang, to keep his personal interests separate from his professional life.